Long Lake students win juried art awards

LAKEPLACID-Art students from Long Lake were honored among 200 north country participants for their artwork, which competed at the annual High School Juried Art Show held at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts in February.

The local students competed against 98 accepted art students from 10 regional schools.

Receiving the highest honor was junior Ratani Mor. He was awarded best of show for his charcoal piece titled, "Elastic Emotions," which depicts several self-portraits seemingly morphed into one another.

Also earning top honors was junior Taylor Garrelts, who won first place in drawing a painting for her charcoal and pastel self-portrait titled, "Cartoon Taylor." Rounding out the awards was sophomore Meg Smith, who won an honorable mention for her charcoal drawing of her dad entitled, "The Rock Giggler," and Megan Pickering whose work was accepted into the show.

In addition to the high school honors, eighth grader Henry Sandiford took home first place honors in the print-making category for his three-dimensional print of the Golden Gate Bridge. Additionally, seventh grader Eve Tobey had work accepted into the juried show.

Michele Gannon, art teacher at Long Lake Central School, has been participating in the Lake Placed show for several years and always encourages her students to enter their work. She was very pleased with her students this year. Their enthusiasm showed in the results and the awards that they earned, she said.

"Seeing their art in a gallery exhibit format is very exciting for them," she said. "It encourages them to dedicate more work and time into each individual piece."

The students fromLongLake will now move their pieces from the Lake Placid show to a featured exhibit at the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts in Blue Mountain Lake. The show begins Saturday, April 2 and runs through May 1.